Acclaimed writer, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, has said she has no regrets concerning the way her twins came to the word: surrogacy.
She is also encouraging other women who feel the need to explore options.
In an interview with Chude Jideonwo, she said her initial reluctance to discuss the matter publicly, fearing it could be politicised.
But she later felt the need to let people know the truth so that it could guide their thinking and decisions.
The author of ‘Dream Count’ said: She said, “My boys are so precious to me. And I hated that anything about them would become politicised – so, on the one hand, I thought ‘I wish I hadn’t talked about it’, but on the other hand, there is no way I am going to lie” about the process of birthing them.
“I am hoping that if anything good comes out of this, it would be that more women are less ashamed of talking about reaching motherhood through non-traditional means. Because our society is so judgmental, and I don’t think that is good for anybody.
“But, you know, my daughter and my babies are the greatest gift I’ve been given, so ZERO REGRETS.
“I felt that there were many women who would then be pressured by people saying, ‘Look, Chimamanda is 47, and she had kids at that age; what about you?’.
“And just in general, I think there is so much shame around issues of fertility that I just think it’s too much of a burden for women. Women are ashamed when they have fibroids, women are ashamed when they have issues getting pregnant, and I don’t believe in that sort of shame, the interviewer said to me that I look fantastic for someone who just had babies and I’m not going to say thank you because that would be a lie. They were born by a surrogate.”
